1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to call conferencing and, in particular, to reservation-less instant conferencing, as it relates to business and consumer wireless and wireline telecommunication service subscribers.
2. Statement of the Problem
A need exists for telephony carriers to provide simplified conferencing services to business and consumer telephone service subscribers. Practicality of the conferencing service for users is becoming more dependent upon extreme ease of use through simple, easy to remember access methods that utilize conferencing automation to the maximum practical extent.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,995,608; 6,181,786; and 6,330,321 owned by the assignee of the present invention, set forth a method and apparatus for on-demand teleconferencing. This represents a prior call conferencing approach eliminating prior scheduling and operator interaction in setting up a conference call. This prior art approach uses, for example, the Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) out-of-band signaling to dynamically route incoming conference calls to bridges in a conferencing system having available resources. In operation, a subscriber to the conferencing service is given a telephone number for connecting to the conferencing system along with a system pass code and a maximum conference size at the time he or she signs up for the service. In order to have a conference, the subscriber distributes his or her access telephone number to the conference participants along with an access code and optional conference security (or PIN) code of the subscriber""s choosing. The processing of the conference call, billing, etc. is handled at the conferencing system.
This mechanism is considered overly complex for application to users in new markets such as mobile and consumer because of the need to remember these access telephone numbers, access codes, and PIN codes, and the need to distribute this information to other participants and plan the call in advance.
U.S. Pat. No. 2002/0091769, owned by the assignee of the present invention and entitled xe2x80x9cConferencing Methodxe2x80x9d allows a subscriber to use the Internet to set up a conference call. The pending following applications, also owned by the assignee of the present invention, represent a simplified conferencing system and method for a subscriber wherein participants call into the subscriber""s phone number: xe2x80x9cLocal Exchange Subscriber Line Conferencingxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 10/208,893 filed Jul. 30, 2002 and xe2x80x9cLocal Exchange Subscriber Line Conferencing Methodxe2x80x9d filed Jul. 30, 2002 as Ser. No. 10/208,503.
Current conferencing service available to users includes three-way calling that is typically accessed by placing one party on hold by pressing a key on the mobile handset or using the flash hook on a landline phone, creating a call to a third party, then connecting the two calls together by pressing another key on the handset or by pressing the flash hook once again. A need exists to extend the capabilities of this type of service through significant simplification of access mechanism as well as through availability of greater than three call legs simultaneously involved in a conference call event.
Current conferencing service available to mobile users also includes the Direct Connect(trademark) service offered by Nextel Communications. This service is accessed only while the user is in their home mobile network coverage area by selecting a pre-defined group of other Nextel Direct Connect users from the mobile handset address book and pressing the xe2x80x9cPush to Talkxe2x80x9d or PTT button on a specialized handset. This feature creates a two way radio service with the members of the group who can instantly talk to other members of the group simply by pressing the PTT button on their handsets and speaking. This is a half duplex feature where only one person can speak at a time. A need exists to extend the capabilities of this type of service through availability of full duplex sound capability, through the ability to access the service while roaming outside of the user""s home mobile network coverage area, through the ability to connect with users outside of the given wireless carrier""s network, and through the extension of this feature outside of the mobile network and on any standard wireless or wireline telephone.
The present invention solves the aforestated problem and meets the needs stated therein. The instant group calling of the present invention, from the perspective of the conferencing system, is characterized by reservation-less instant conferencing, as it relates to business and consumer wireless and wireline telecommunication subscribers. From the perspective of the user, the service of the present invention is characterized by a simplified access method for conferencing services that takes advantage of telecommunication network capabilities to eliminate many of the current art complexities involved with accessing such service and by enhanced capabilities which overcome current art limitations allowing conferencing in a full duplex environment with endpoints outside of a given carrier""s network, whether wireless or wireline.